NASA Image of the DayThe latest NASA "Image of the Day" image.http://www.nasa.gov/
en-usyvette.smith-1@nasa.govbrian.dunbar@nasa.govhttp://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rssThe NACA Spirit Captured, 1945http://www.nasa.gov/content/the-naca-spirit-captured-1945
In this 1945 photo, test pilots (from left) Mel Gough, Herb Hoover, Jack Reeder, Steve Cavallo and Bill Gray stand in front of a P-47 Thunderbolt. The photo was taken at the then-named Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, which was a research facility for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, or the NACA.
The NACA was the main institutional basis for creating NASA in 1958.
On March 3, 1915 – one hundred years ago -- the U.S. Congress established the NACA in order "to supervise and direct the scientific study of the problems of flight with a view to their practical solution."
From humble beginnings with a $5000 budget, no paid staff and no facilities, the NACA won the Collier trophy five times. Its researchers made critical contributions to victory in World War II, spawned a world-leading civil aviation manufacturing industry, propelled supersonic flight, supported national security during the Cold War, and laid the foundation for modern air travel and the space age.
Learn more about the 100th anniversary of the founding of the NACA at www.nasa.gov/naca100.
Image Credit: NASAhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/the-naca-spirit-captured-1945Tue, 03 Mar 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayAstronauts Complete Series of Three Spacewalkshttp://www.nasa.gov/content/astronauts-complete-series-of-three-spacewalks
On Sunday, March 1, Expedition 42 Flight Engineer Terry Virts and Commander Barry "Butch" Wilmore ventured outside the International Space Station for their third spacewalk in eight days. Virts and Wilmore completed installing 400 feet of cable and several antennas associated with the Common Communications for Visiting Vehicles system known as C2V2. Boeing’s Crew Transportation System (CST)-100 and the SpaceX Crew Dragon will use the system in the coming years to rendezvous with the orbital laboratory and deliver crews to the space station.
Virts (@AstroTerry) tweeted this photograph and wrote, "Out on the P3 truss. #AstroButch handing me his cable to install on the new antenna. #spacewalk"
Image Credit: NASAhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/astronauts-complete-series-of-three-spacewalksMon, 02 Mar 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayAstronaut Salutes Nimoy From Orbithttp://www.nasa.gov/content/astronaut-salutes-nimoy-from-orbit
International Space Station astronaut Terry Virts (@AstroTerry) tweeted this image of a Vulcan hand salute from orbit as a tribute to actor Leonard Nimoy, who died on Friday, Feb. 27, 2015. Nimoy played science officer Mr. Spock in the Star Trek series that served as an inspiration to generations of scientists, engineers and sci-fi fans around the world.
Cape Cod and Boston, Massachusetts, Nimoy's home town, are visible through the station window.http://www.nasa.gov/content/astronaut-salutes-nimoy-from-orbitSat, 28 Feb 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayThe Shuttle Enterprisehttp://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1204.html
In 1976, NASA's space shuttle Enterprise rolled out of the Palmdale manufacturing facilities and was greeted by NASA officials and cast members from the 'Star Trek' television series.
From left to right they are: NASA Administrator Dr. James D. Fletcher; DeForest Kelley, who portrayed Dr. "Bones" McCoy on the series; George Takei (Mr. Sulu); James Doohan (Chief Engineer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott); Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura); Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock); series creator Gene Roddenberry; U.S. Rep. Don Fuqua (D.-Fla.); and, Walter Koenig (Ensign Pavel Chekov).
NASA is mourning the passing today, Feb. 27, 2015, of actor Leonard Nimoy, most famous for his role as Star Trek's Vulcan science officer Mr. Spock. The sci-fi classic served as an inspiration for many at NASA over the years, and Nimoy joined other cast members at special NASA events and worked to promote NASA missions, as in this 2007 video he narrated before the launch of the Dawn mission to the asteroid belt. Nimoy also was there for the 1976 rollout of the shuttle Enterprise, named for the show's iconic spacecraft.
Image Credit: NASAhttp://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1204.htmlFri, 27 Feb 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayHubble Images a Dusty Galaxy, Home to an Exploding Starhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubble-images-a-dusty-galaxy-home-to-an-exploding-star
The galaxy pictured here is NGC 4424, located in the constellation of Virgo. It is not visible with the naked eye but has been captured here with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
Although it may not be obvious from this image, NGC 4424 is in fact a spiral galaxy. In this image it is seen more or less edge on, but from above, you would be able to see the arms of the galaxy wrapping around its center to give the characteristic spiral form.
In 2012, astronomers observed a supernova in NGC 4424 — a violent explosion marking the end of a star’s life. During a supernova explosion, a single star can often outshine an entire galaxy. However, the supernova in NGC 4424, dubbed SN 2012cg, cannot be seen here as the image was taken ten years prior to the explosion. Along the central region of the galaxy, clouds of dust block the light from distant stars and create dark patches.
To the left of NGC 4424 there are two bright objects in the frame. The brightest is another, smaller galaxy known as LEDA 213994 and the object closer to NGC 4424 is an anonymous star in our Milky Way.
European Space Agency
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgement: Gilles Chapdelainehttp://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubble-images-a-dusty-galaxy-home-to-an-exploding-starFri, 27 Feb 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayFeb. 26, 1966 Launch of Apollo-Saturn 201http://www.nasa.gov/content/apollo-saturn-201-launch
Apollo-Saturn 201 (AS-201), the first Saturn IB launch vehicle developed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), lifts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 11:12 a.m. on Feb. 26, 1966. The AS-201 mission was an unmanned suborbital flight to test the Saturn 1B launch vehicle and the Apollo Command and Service Modules. This was the first flight of the S-IB and S-IVB stages, including the first flight test of the liquid-hydrogen/liquid oxygen-propelled J-2 engine in the S-IVB stage. During the thirty-seven minute flight, the vehicle reached an altitude of 303 miles and traveled 5,264 miles downrange.
Image Credit: NASAhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/apollo-saturn-201-launchThu, 26 Feb 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayChicago in Winterhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/chicago-in-winter
From the International Space Station (ISS), European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti took this photograph of Chicago and posted it to social media on Feb. 19, 2015. She wrote, "How do you like #Chicago dressed for winter?"
Crewmembers on the space station photograph the Earth from their unique point of view located 200 miles above the surface as part of the Crew Earth Observations program. Photographs record how the planet is changing over time, from human-caused changes like urban growth and reservoir construction, to natural dynamic events such as hurricanes, floods and volcanic eruptions. Astronauts have used hand-held cameras to photograph the Earth for more than 40 years, beginning with the Mercury missions in the early 1960s. The ISS maintains an altitude between 220 - 286 miles (354 - 460 km) above the Earth, and an orbital inclination of 51.6˚, providing an excellent stage for observing most populated areas of the world.
Image Credit: NASA/ESA/Samantha Cristoforettihttp://www.nasa.gov/content/chicago-in-winterWed, 25 Feb 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayCuriosity Self-Portrait at 'Mojave' Site on Mount Sharphttp://www.nasa.gov/jpl/msl/pia19142
This self-portrait of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows the vehicle at the "Mojave" site, where its drill collected the mission's second taste of Mount Sharp.
The scene combines dozens of images taken during January 2015 by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera at the end of the rover's robotic arm. The pale "Pahrump Hills" outcrop surrounds the rover, and the upper portion of Mount Sharp is visible on the horizon. Darker ground at upper right and lower left holds ripples of wind-blown sand and dust.
An annotated version, Fig. A, labels several of the sites Curiosity has investigated during three passes up the Pahrump Hills outcrop examining the outcrop at increasing levels of detail. The rover used its sample-collecting drill at "Confidence Hills" as well as at Mojave, and in late February was assessing "Telegraph Peak" as a third drilling site.
The view does not include the rover's robotic arm. Wrist motions and turret rotations on the arm allowed MAHLI to acquire the mosaic's component images. The arm was positioned out of the shot in the images, or portions of images, that were used in this mosaic. This process was used previously in acquiring and assembling Curiosity self-portraits taken at sample-collection sites "Rocknest" (http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA16468), "John Klein" (http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA16937) and "Windjana" (http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA18390).
Curiosity used its drill to collect a sample of rock powder from target "Mojave 2" at this site on Jan. 31, 2015. The full-depth, sample-collection hole and the shallower preparation test hole beside it are visible in front of the rover in this self-portrait, and in more detail at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19115 . The Mojave site is in the "Pink Cliffs" portion of the Pahrump Hills outcrop. The outcrop is an exposure of the Murray formation, which forms the basal geological layer of Mount Sharp. Views of Pahrump Hills from other angles are at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19039 and the inset at http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/images/?ImageID=6968 .
The frames showing the rover in this mosaic were taken during the 868th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (Jan. 14, 2015). Additional frames around the edges to extend the amount of terrain included in the scene were taken on Sol 882 (Jan. 29, 2015). The frames showing the drill holes were taken on Sol 884 (Jan. 31, 2015).
For scale, the rover's wheels are 20 inches (50 centimeters) in diameter and about 16 inches (40 centimeters) wide. The drilled holes in the rock are 0.63 inch (1.6 centimeters) in diameter.
MAHLI was built by Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the project's Curiosity rover.
More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSShttp://www.nasa.gov/jpl/msl/pia19142Tue, 24 Feb 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayAstronaut Barry Wilmore on the First of Three Spacewalkshttp://www.nasa.gov/content/astronaut-barry-wilmore-on-the-first-of-three-spacewalks
NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore works outside the International Space Station on the first of three spacewalks preparing the station for future arrivals by U.S. commercial crew spacecraft, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015. Fellow spacewalker Terry Virts, seen reflected in the visor, shared this photograph on social media.
The spacewalks are designed to lay cables along the forward end of the U.S. segment to bring power and communication to two International Docking Adapters slated to arrive later this year. The new docking ports will welcome U.S. commercial spacecraft launching from Florida beginning in 2017, permitting the standard station crew size to grow from six to seven and potentially double the amount of crew time devoted to research.
The second and third spacewalks are planned for Wednesday, Feb. 25 and Sunday, March 1, with Wilmore and Virts participating in all three.
Image Credit: NASAhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/astronaut-barry-wilmore-on-the-first-of-three-spacewalksMon, 23 Feb 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayJohn Glenn During the Mercury-Atlas 6 Spaceflighthttp://www.nasa.gov/content/john-glenn-during-the-mercury-atlas-6-spaceflight
On Feb. 20, 1962, astronaut John H. Glenn, Jr., became the first American to orbit Earth. Launched from Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 14, Glenn's Mercury-Atlas 6 "Friendship 7" spacecraft completed a successful three-orbit mission, reaching a maximum altitude (apogee) of approximately 162 statute miles and an orbital velocity of approximately 17,500 miles per hour. The flight lasted a total of 4 hours, 55 minutes, and 23 seconds before the spacecraft splashed down in the ocean. This photograph of John Glenn during the Mercury-Atlas 6 spaceflight was taken by a camera onboard the spacecraft.
Image Credit: NASAhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/john-glenn-during-the-mercury-atlas-6-spaceflightFri, 20 Feb 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayMagnetospheric Multiscale Observatories Processed for Launchhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/magnetospheric-multiscale-observatories-processed-for-launch
NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) observatories are processed for launch in a clean room at the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Florida. MMS is an unprecedented NASA mission to study the mystery of how magnetic fields around Earth connect and disconnect, explosively releasing energy via a process known as magnetic reconnection. MMS consists of four identical spacecraft that work together to provide the first three-dimensional view of this fundamental process, which occurs throughout the universe.
The mission observes reconnection directly in Earth's protective magnetic space environment, the magnetosphere. By studying reconnection in this local, natural laboratory, MMS helps us understand reconnection elsewhere as well, such as in the atmosphere of the sun and other stars, in the vicinity of black holes and neutron stars, and at the boundary between our solar system's heliosphere and interstellar space.
MMS is a NASA mission led by the Goddard Space Flight Center. The instrument payload science team consists of researchers from a number of institutions and is led by the Southwest Research Institute. Launch of the four identical observatories aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is managed by Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Services Program. Liftoff is currently targeted for 10:44 p.m. EDT on March 12.
Image Credit: NASA/Ben Smegelskyhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/magnetospheric-multiscale-observatories-processed-for-launchThu, 19 Feb 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DaySnow-Covered Northeastern United Stateshttp://www.nasa.gov/content/snow-covered-northeastern-united-states
Yet another potent winter storm battered the northeastern United States on Feb. 14-15, 2015. The nor'easter brought 12 to 20 inches (30 to 50 centimeters) of snow across much of eastern New England, along with tropical storm force winds over 60 miles (100 kilometers) per hour. The latest snowfall pushed Boston to its highest monthly total on record—58 inches and counting—and its third highest yearly snow total.
This image shows the snow-covered northeastern states as observed on Feb. 16, 2015, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite. Cloud streets over the Atlantic Ocean in both images hint at the potent winds blowing across the East Coast from the Canadian interior. Following the blizzard, temperatures dropped as low as -30 degrees Fahrenheit (-34° Celsius) in parts of New England.
What the images do not show is snow depth. With the latest storm, nearly 8 feet (2.4 meters) of snow has fallen on the city of Boston in just three weeks. With temperatures persistently below freezing, very little snow has melted. According to National Climatic Data Center statistics the snow depth just south of Boston was roughly 42 inches (107 centimeters). Totals were above 30 inches (76 centimeters) in many locations in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.
As of Feb. 17, the snow depth near Boston was greater than in all but two reported locations in Alaska. It was significantly higher than the notoriously snowy states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Only Buffalo, New York, had a higher snow pack.
On Feb. 16-17, more snow and ice fell across the eastern United States from northern Mississippi all the way to Maine.
Image Credit: NASA/Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS Rapid Response, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Caption: Mike Carlowiczhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/snow-covered-northeastern-united-statesWed, 18 Feb 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayDawn Approaches: Two Faces of Cereshttp://www.nasa.gov/jpl/dawn/pia19056
These two views of Ceres were acquired by NASA's Dawn spacecraft on Feb. 12, 2015, from a distance of about 52,000 miles (83,000 kilometers) as the dwarf planet rotated. The images have been magnified from their original size.
The Dawn spacecraft is due to arrive at Ceres on March 6, 2015.
Dawn's mission to Vesta and Ceres is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Dawn is a project of the directorate's Discovery Program, managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. UCLA is responsible for overall Dawn mission science. Orbital ATK, Inc., of Dulles, Virginia, designed and built the spacecraft. JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. The framing cameras were provided by the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen, Germany, with significant contributions by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin, and in coordination with the Institute of Computer and Communication Network Engineering, Braunschweig. The visible and infrared mapping spectrometer was provided by the Italian Space Agency and the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics, built by Selex ES, and is managed and operated by the Italian Institute for Space Astrophysics and Planetology, Rome. The gamma ray and neutron detector was built by Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, and is operated by the Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, Arizona.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDAhttp://www.nasa.gov/jpl/dawn/pia19056Tue, 17 Feb 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayGrowing Deltas in Atchafalaya Bayhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/growing-deltas-in-atchafalaya-bay
The delta plain of the Mississippi River is disappearing. The lobe-shaped arc of coastal land from the Chandeleur Islands in eastern Louisiana to the Sabine River loses a football field’s worth of land every hour. Put another way, the delta has shrunk by nearly 5,000 square kilometers (2,000 square miles) over the past 80 years. That’s as if most of Delaware had sunk into the sea.
Though land losses are widely distributed across the 300 kilometer (200 mile) wide coastal plain of Louisiana, Atchafalaya Bay stands as a notable exception. In a swampy area south of Morgan City, new land is forming at the mouths of the Wax Lake Outlet and the Atchafalaya River. Wax Lake Outlet is an artificial channel that diverts some of the river’s flow into the bay about 16 kilometers (10 miles) west of where the main river empties.
Both deltas are being built by sediment carried by the Atchafalaya River. The Atchafalaya is a distributary of the Mississippi River, connecting to the “Big Muddy” in south central Louisiana near Simmesport. Studies of the geologic history of the meandering Mississippi have shown that—if left to nature—most of the river’s water would eventually flow down the Atchafalaya. But the Old River Control Structure, built in the 1960s by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ensures that only 30 percent of the Mississippi flows into the Atchafalaya River, while the rest of the keeps moving toward Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
More information.
Image Credit: NASA/Earth Observatoryhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/growing-deltas-in-atchafalaya-bayFri, 13 Feb 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayNASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomyhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/nasas-stratospheric-observatory-for-infrared-astronomy
NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) enters the Lufthansa Technik hangar in Hamburg, Germany for its decadal inspection. Flight, aircraft maintenance, and science personnel from the Armstrong Flight Research Center worked alongside Lufthansa's 747 specialists to perform a wide range of inspections and maintenance.
Water vapor in the Earth's atmosphere absorbs infrared radiation, preventing a large section of the infrared spectrum from reaching ground-based observatories. SOFIA is a heavily modified Boeing 747 Special Performance jetliner that flies at altitudes between 39,000 to 45,000 feet (12 to 14 km), above more than 99 percent of Earth's atmospheric water vapor giving astronomers the ability to study celestial objects at wavelengths that cannot be seen from ground-based observatories.
More information on SOFIA.
Image Credit: NASA/ Jeff Doughtyhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/nasas-stratospheric-observatory-for-infrared-astronomyThu, 12 Feb 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayGiant Filament Seen on the Sunhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/sdo/giant-filament-seen-on-the-sun-feb-10-2015
A dark, snaking line across the lower half of the sun in this Feb. 10, 2015 image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) shows a filament of solar material hovering above the sun's surface. SDO shows colder material as dark and hotter material as light, so the line is, in fact, an enormous swatch of colder material hovering in the sun's atmosphere, the corona. Stretched out, that line – or solar filament as scientists call it – would be more than 533,000 miles long. That is longer than 67 Earths lined up in a row. Filaments can float sedately for days before disappearing. Sometimes they also erupt out into space, releasing solar material in a shower that either rains back down or escapes out into space, becoming a moving cloud known as a coronal mass ejection, or CME. SDO captured images of the filament in numerous wavelengths, each of which helps highlight material of different temperatures on the sun. By looking at such features in different wavelengths and temperatures, scientists learn more about what causes these structures, as well as what catalyzes their occasional eruptions.
Launched on Feb. 11, 2010 aboard a ULA Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory is designed to study the causes of solar variability and its impacts on Earth. The spacecraft's long-term measurements give solar scientists in-depth information to help characterize the interior of the sun, the sun's magnetic field, the hot plasma of the solar corona, and the density of radiation that creates the ionosphere of the planets. The information is used to create better forecasts of space weather needed to protect aircraft, satellites and astronauts living and working in space.
Image Credit: NASA/SDOhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/sdo/giant-filament-seen-on-the-sun-feb-10-2015Wed, 11 Feb 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayHubble Sees A Smiling Lenshttp://www.nasa.gov/content/hubble-sees-a-smiling-lens
In the center of this image, taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, is the galaxy cluster SDSS J1038+4849 — and it seems to be smiling.
You can make out its two orange eyes and white button nose. In the case of this “happy face”, the two eyes are very bright galaxies and the misleading smile lines are actually arcs caused by an effect known as strong gravitational lensing.
Galaxy clusters are the most massive structures in the Universe and exert such a powerful gravitational pull that they warp the spacetime around them and act as cosmic lenses which can magnify, distort and bend the light behind them. This phenomenon, crucial to many of Hubble’s discoveries, can be explained by Einstein’s theory of general relativity.
In this special case of gravitational lensing, a ring — known as an Einstein Ring — is produced from this bending of light, a consequence of the exact and symmetrical alignment of the source, lens and observer and resulting in the ring-like structure we see here.
Hubble has provided astronomers with the tools to probe these massive galaxies and model their lensing effects, allowing us to peer further into the early Universe than ever before. This object was studied by Hubble’s Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) and Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) as part of a survey of strong lenses.
A version of this image was entered into the Hubble’s Hidden Treasures image processing competition by contestant Judy Schmidt.
Image Credit: NASA/ESA
Caption: ESA
> More information and image productshttp://www.nasa.gov/content/hubble-sees-a-smiling-lensTue, 10 Feb 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DaySpace Station Flyover of Gulf of Aden and Horn of Africahttp://www.nasa.gov/content/space-station-flyover-of-gulf-of-aden-and-horn-of-africa
European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti took this photograph from the International Space Station and posted it to social media on Jan. 30, 2015. Cristoforetti wrote, "A spectacular flyover of the Gulf of Aden and the Horn of Africa. #HelloEarth"
Image Credit: NASA/ESA/Samantha Cristoforettihttp://www.nasa.gov/content/space-station-flyover-of-gulf-of-aden-and-horn-of-africaMon, 09 Feb 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayHubble's Little Sombrerohttp://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubbles-little-sombrero
Galaxies can take many shapes and be oriented any way relative to us in the sky. This can make it hard to figure out their actual morphology, as a galaxy can look very different from different viewpoints. A special case is when we are lucky enough to observe a spiral galaxy directly from its edge, providing us with a spectacular view like the one seen in this picture of the week.
This is NGC 7814, also known as the “Little Sombrero.” Its larger namesake, the Sombrero Galaxy, is another stunning example of an edge-on galaxy — in fact, the “Little Sombrero” is about the same size as its bright namesake at about 60,000 light-years across, but as it lies farther away, and so appears smaller in the sky.
NGC 7814 has a bright central bulge and a bright halo of glowing gas extending outwards into space. The dusty spiral arms appear as dark streaks. They consist of dusty material that absorbs and blocks light from the galactic center behind it. The field of view of this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image would be very impressive even without NGC 7814 in front; nearly all the objects seen in this image are galaxies as well.
European Space Agency
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Acknowledgement: Josh Barringtonhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubbles-little-sombreroFri, 06 Feb 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayForty-Four Years Ago Today: Apollo 14 Touches Down on the Moonhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/forty-four-years-ago-today-apollo-14-touches-down-on-the-moon
On Feb. 5. 1971, the Apollo 14 crew module landed on the moon. The crew members were Captain Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr. (USN), commander; Major Stuart Allen Roosa (USAF), command module pilot; and Commander Edgar Dean Mitchell (USN), lunar module pilot. In this photo, Shepard stands by the Modular Equipment Transporter (MET). The MET was a cart for carrying around tools, cameras and sample cases on the lunar surface. Shepard can be identified by the vertical stripe on his helmet. After Apollo 13, the commander's spacesuit had red stripes on the helmet, arms, and one leg, to help identify them in photographs.
Image Credit: NASAhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/forty-four-years-ago-today-apollo-14-touches-down-on-the-moonThu, 05 Feb 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayCuriosity Rover at 'Pahrump Hills'http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/mro/pia19114
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover can be seen at the "Pahrump Hills" area of Gale Crater in this view from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Pahrump Hills is an outcrop at the base of Mount Sharp. The region contains sedimentary rocks that scientists believe formed in the presence of water.
The location of the rover, with its shadow extending toward the upper right, is indicated with an inscribed rectangle. Figure A is an unannotated version of the image. North is toward the top. The view covers an area about 360 yards (330 meters) across.
HiRISE made the observation on Dec. 13, 2014. At that time, Curiosity was near a feature called "Whale Rock." A map showing the rover's path for the weeks leading up to that date is at http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/images/?ImageID=6884 . The inset map at http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/images/?ImageID=6913 labels the location of Whale Rock and other features in the Pahrump Hills area.
The bright features in the landscape are sedimentary rock and the dark areas are sand. The HiRISE team plans to periodically image Curiosity, as well as NASA's other active Mars rover, Opportunity, as the vehicles continue to explore Mars.
This image is an excerpt from HiRISE observation ESP_039280_1755. Other image products from this observation are available at http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_039280_1755 .
The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project and Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizonahttp://www.nasa.gov/jpl/mro/pia19114Wed, 04 Feb 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the Day'State of NASA' Address at Kennedy Space Centerhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/state-of-nasa-address-at-kennedy-space-center
In the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden delivers a “state of the agency” address on Feb. 2, 2015 at NASA's televised fiscal year 2016 budget rollout event with Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana looking on, at right. Representatives from the Kennedy workforce, news media and social media were in attendance. NASA's Orion, SpaceX Dragon and Boeing CST-100 spacecraft, all destined to play a role in NASA’s overall exploration objectives, were on display.
Photo credit: NASA/Amber Watsonhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/state-of-nasa-address-at-kennedy-space-centerTue, 03 Feb 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayCloud Streets in the Bering Seahttp://www.nasa.gov/content/cloud-streets-in-the-bering-sea
Ice, wind, cold temperatures and ocean waters combined to created dramatic cloud formations over the Bering Sea in late January, 2015. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA's Aqua satellite passed over the region and captured this true-color image on Jan. 23.
The frozen tundra of Russia lies in the northwest of the image, and snow-covered Alaska lies in the northeast. Sea ice extends from the land well into the Bering Sea. Over the dark water bright white clouds line in up close, parallel rows. These formations are known as “cloud streets”.
Air blowing over the cold, snowy land and then over ice becomes both cold and dry. When the air then moves over relatively warmer and much moister water and lead to the development of parallel cylinders of spinning air. On the upper edge of these cylinders of air, where the air is rising, small clouds form. Where air is descending, the skies are clear. This clear/cloudy pattern, formed in parallel rows, gives the impression of streets.
The clouds begin over the sea ice, but they primarily hang over open ocean. The streets are neat and in tight rows closest to land, while further over the Bering Sea the pattern widens and begins to become more random. The rows of clouds are also not perfectly straight, but tend to curve. The strength and direction of the wind helps create these features: where the wind is strongest, nearest to shore, the clouds line up most neatly. The clouds align with the wind direction, so the direction of the streets gives strong clues to prevailing wind direction.
Image Credit: NASA/Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFChttp://www.nasa.gov/content/cloud-streets-in-the-bering-seaMon, 02 Feb 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DaySuper View of Glendale and Phoenixhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/super-view-of-glendale-and-phoenix
One of the Expedition 35 crew members on the International Space Station used a still camera with a 400 millimeter lens to record this nocturnal image of the Phoenix, Arizona area on March 16, 2013. Like many large urban areas of the central and western United States, the Phoenix metropolitan area is laid out along a regular grid of city blocks and streets. While visible during the day, this grid is most evident at night, when the pattern of street lighting is clearly visible from above -- in the case of this photograph, from the low Earth orbit vantage point of the International Space Station. The urban grid form encourages growth of a city outwards along its borders, by providing optimal access to new real estate. Fueled by the adoption of widespread personal automobile use during the 20th century, the Phoenix metropolitan area today includes 25 other municipalities (many of them largely suburban and residential in character) linked by a network of surface streets and freeways. The image area includes parts of several cities in the metropolitan area including Phoenix proper (right), Glendale (center), and Peoria (left). While the major street grid is oriented north-south, the northwest-southeast oriented Grand Avenue cuts across it at image center. Grand Avenue is a major transportation corridor through the western metropolitan area; the lighting patterns of large industrial and commercial properties are visible along its length. Other brightly lit properties include large shopping centers, strip centers, and gas stations which tend to be located at the intersections of north-south and east-west trending streets. While much of the land area highlighted in this image is urbanized, there are several noticeably dark areas. The Phoenix Mountains at upper right are largely public park and recreational land. To the west (image lower left), agricultural fields provide a sharp contrast to the lit streets of neighboring residential developments. The Salt River channel appears as a dark ribbon within the urban grid at lower right.
Image Credit: NASAhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/super-view-of-glendale-and-phoenixSun, 01 Feb 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DaySMAP Takes to the Skieshttp://www.nasa.gov/content/smap-takes-to-the-skies
A United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket with the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) observatory onboard is seen in this long exposure photograph as it launches from Space Launch Complex 2, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2015, Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. SMAP is NASA’s first Earth-observing satellite designed to collect global observations of surface soil moisture and its freeze/thaw state. SMAP will provide high resolution global measurements of soil moisture from space. The data will be used to enhance scientists' understanding of the processes that link Earth's water, energy, and carbon cycles. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)http://www.nasa.gov/content/smap-takes-to-the-skiesSat, 31 Jan 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayHubble's View of the Polar Ring of Arp 230http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubbles-view-of-the-polar-ring-of-arp-230
This image shows Arp 230, also known as IC 51, observed by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
Arp 230 is a galaxy of an uncommon or peculiar shape, and is therefore part of the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies produced by Halton Arp. Its irregular shape is thought to be the result of a violent collision with another galaxy sometime in the past. The collision could also be held responsible for the formation of the galaxy’s polar ring.
The outer ring surrounding the galaxy consists of gas and stars and rotates over the poles of the galaxy. It is thought that the orbit of the smaller of the two galaxies that created Arp 230 was perpendicular to the disk of the second, larger galaxy when they collided. In the process of merging the smaller galaxy would have been ripped apart and may have formed the polar ring structure astronomers can observe today.
Arp 230 is quite small for a lenticular galaxy, so the two original galaxies forming it must both have been smaller than the Milky Way. A lenticular galaxy is a galaxy with a prominent central bulge and a disk, but no clear spiral arms. They are classified as intermediate between an elliptical galaxy and a spiral galaxy.
European Space Agency
Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgement: Flickr user Det58http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubbles-view-of-the-polar-ring-of-arp-230Fri, 30 Jan 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayDelta II Rocket With Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) Mission Onboardhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/delta-ii-rocket-with-soil-moisture-active-passive-smap-mission-onboard
A worker is seen preparing the launch gantry to be rolled back from the United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket with the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) observatory onboard, at the Space Launch Complex 2, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2015, Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. Now scheduled to launch early Friday morning, SMAP is NASA’s first Earth-observing satellite designed to collect global observations of surface soil moisture and its freeze/thaw state. SMAP will provide high resolution global measurements of soil moisture from space. The data will be used to enhance scientists' understanding of the processes that link Earth's water, energy, and carbon cycles.
Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingallshttp://www.nasa.gov/content/delta-ii-rocket-with-soil-moisture-active-passive-smap-mission-onboardThu, 29 Jan 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayNASA's Day of Remembrance 2015http://www.nasa.gov/content/nasas-day-of-remembrance-2015
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and his wife, Alexis, lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns as part of NASA's Day of Remembrance, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2015, at Arlington National Cemetery. The wreaths were laid in memory of those men and women who lost their lives in the quest for space exploration. Photo Credit: NASA/Joel Kowskyhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/nasas-day-of-remembrance-2015Wed, 28 Jan 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayNASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) Ready for Jan. 29 Launchhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/nasas-soil-moisture-active-passive-smap-ready-for-jan-29-launch
The sun sets behind Space Launch Complex 2 (SLC-2) with the Delta II rocket and the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) observatory protected by the service structure on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. SMAP is NASA’s first Earth-observing satellite designed to collect global observations of surface soil moisture and its freeze/thaw state. SMAP will provide high resolution global measurements of soil moisture from space. The data will be used to enhance scientists' understanding of the processes that link Earth's water, energy, and carbon cycles.
Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingallshttp://www.nasa.gov/content/nasas-soil-moisture-active-passive-smap-ready-for-jan-29-launchWed, 28 Jan 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DaySounding Rockets Launch Into an Aurorahttp://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/m-tex-and-mist-launch
The interaction of solar winds and Earth’s atmosphere produces northern lights, or auroras, that dance across the night sky and mesmerize the casual observer. However, to scientists this interaction is more than a light display. It produces many questions about the role it plays in Earth’s meteorological processes and the impact on the planet’s atmosphere.
To help answer some of these questions, NASA suborbital sounding rockets carrying university-developed experiments -- the Mesosphere-Lower Thermosphere Turbulence Experiment (M-TeX) and Mesospheric Inversion-layer Stratified Turbulence (MIST) -- were launched into auroras from the Poker Flat Research Range in Alaska. The experiments explore the Earth’s atmosphere’s response to auroral, radiation belt and solar energetic particles and associated effects on nitric oxide and ozone.
This composite shot of all four sounding rockets for the M-TeX and MIST experiments is made up of 30 second exposures. The rocket salvo began at 4:13 a.m. EST, Jan. 26, 2015. A fifth rocket carrying the Auroral Spatial Structures Probe remains ready on the launch pad. The launch window for this experiment runs through Jan. 27.
Image Credit: NASA/Jamie Adkins
> More: M-TeX and MIST Experiments Launched from Alaskahttp://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/m-tex-and-mist-launchTue, 27 Jan 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayRocky Mountain National Park Viewed From the International Space Stationhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/rocky-mountain-national-park-viewed-from-the-international-space-station
Marking the 100th anniversary of the Rocky Mountain National Park on Jan. 26, 2015, Expedition 42 Flight Engineer Terry Virts posted this photograph, taken from the International Space Station, to Twitter. Virts wrote, "Majestic peaks and trails! Happy 100th anniversary @RockyNPS So much beauty to behold in our @NatlParkService."
Image Credit: NASA/Terry Virtshttp://www.nasa.gov/content/rocky-mountain-national-park-viewed-from-the-international-space-stationMon, 26 Jan 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayChandra Celebrates the International Year of Lighthttp://www.nasa.gov/content/chandra-celebrates-the-international-year-of-light
The year of 2015 has been declared the International Year of Light (IYL) by the United Nations. Organizations, institutions, and individuals involved in the science and applications of light will be joining together for this yearlong celebration to help spread the word about the wonders of light.
NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory explores the universe in X-rays, a high-energy form of light. By studying X-ray data and comparing them with observations in other types of light, scientists can develop a better understanding of objects likes stars and galaxies that generate temperatures of millions of degrees and produce X-rays.
To recognize the start of IYL, the Chandra X-ray Center is releasing a set of images that combine data from telescopes tuned to different wavelengths of light. From a distant galaxy to the relatively nearby debris field of an exploded star, these images demonstrate the myriad ways that information about the universe is communicated to us through light.
In this image, an expanding shell of debris called SNR 0519-69.0 is left behind after a massive star exploded in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to the Milky Way. Multimillion degree gas is seen in X-rays from Chandra, in blue. The outer edge of the explosion (red) and stars in the field of view are seen in visible light from the Hubble Space Telescope.
> More: Chandra Celebrates the International Year of Light
Image Credit: NASA/CXC/SAOhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/chandra-celebrates-the-international-year-of-lightFri, 23 Jan 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayGreenland's Leidy Glacierhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/greenlands-leidy-glacier
Located in the northwest corner of Greenland, Leidy Glacier is fed by ice from the Academy Glacier (upstream and inland). As Leidy approaches the sea, it is diverted around the tip of an island that separates the Olriks Fjord to the south and Academy Cove to the north. The resulting crisscross pattern is simply the result of ice flowing along the path of least resistance.
This view of the region pictured above was acquired August 7, 2012, by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA's Terra satellite. In April 2012, the feature caught the attention of a NASA pilot, who snapped this picture from the cockpit of a high-flying ER-2 aircraft during a research flight over the Greenland ice cap.
More information.
Image Credit: NASA/Terrahttp://www.nasa.gov/content/greenlands-leidy-glacierThu, 22 Jan 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayPresident Obama Recognizes Astronaut Scott Kellyhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/president-obama-recognizes-astronaut-scott-kelly
NASA astronaut Scott Kelly stands as he is recognized by President Barack Obama, while First Lady Michelle Obama (lower left corner) and other guests applaud. The President recognized Kelly during the State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 20, 2015. This March, Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko will launch to the International Space Station and become the first crewmembers to live and work aboard the orbiting laboratory for a year-long mission. While living on the International Space Station, Kelly, Kornienko and the rest of the crew will carry out hundreds of research experiments and work on cutting-edge technology development that will inspire students here at home in science, technology, engineering and math. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)http://www.nasa.gov/content/president-obama-recognizes-astronaut-scott-kellyWed, 21 Jan 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayAstronaut Buzz Aldrin in the Apollo 11 Lunar Modulehttp://www.nasa.gov/content/astronaut-buzz-aldrin-in-the-apollo-11-lunar-module
This July 20, 1969 photograph of the interior view of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module shows astronaut Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin, Jr. during the lunar landing mission. The picture was taken by astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, commander, prior to the landing.
Buzz Aldrin was born in Montclair, New Jersey, on Jan. 20, 1930. Aldrin became an astronaut during the selection of the third group by NASA in October 1963. On Nov. 11, 1966 he orbited aboard the Gemini XII spacecraft, a 4-day 59-revolution flight that successfully ended the Gemini program. During Project Gemini, Aldrin became one of the key figures working on the problem of rendezvous of spacecraft in Earth or lunar orbit, and docking them together for spaceflight. Aldrin was chosen as a member of the three-person Apollo 11 crew that landed on the moon on July 20, 1969, fulfilling the mandate of President John F. Kennedy to send Americans to the moon before the end of the decade. Aldrin was the second American to set foot on the lunar surface.
Image Credit: NASAhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/astronaut-buzz-aldrin-in-the-apollo-11-lunar-moduleTue, 20 Jan 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayNASA's NEOWISE Images Comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy)http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/neowise/pia19102
Comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) is one of more than 32 comets imaged by NASA's NEOWISE mission from December 2013 to December 2014. This image of comet Lovejoy combines a series of observations made in November 2013, when comet Lovejoy was 1.7 astronomical units from the sun. (An astronomical unit is the distance between Earth and the sun.)
The image spans half of one degree. It shows the comet moving in a mostly west and slightly south direction. (North is 26 degrees to the right of up in the image, and west is 26 degrees downward from directly right.) The red color is caused by the strong signal in the NEOWISE 4.6-micron wavelength detector, owing to a combination of gas and dust in the comet's coma.
Comet Lovejoy is the brightest comet in Earth's sky in early 2015. A chart of its location in the sky during dates in January 2015 is at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19103 .
For more information about NEOWISE (the Near-Earth Object Wide-field Survey Explorer), see http://neowise.ipac.caltech.edu/.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltechhttp://www.nasa.gov/jpl/neowise/pia19102Fri, 16 Jan 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayInterior View From the International Space Station Cupolahttp://www.nasa.gov/content/interior-view-from-the-international-space-station-cupola
This image of the interior view from the International Space Station's Cupola module was taken on Jan. 4, 2015. The large bay windows allows the Expedition 42 crew to see outside. The Cupola houses one of the space station's two robotic work stations used by astronauts to manipulate the large robotic arm seen through the right window. The robotic arm, or Canadarm2, was used throughout the construction of the station and is still used to grapple visiting cargo vehicles and assist astronauts during spacewalks. The Cupola is attached to the nadir side of the space station and also gives a full panoramic view of the Earth.
Image Credit: NASAhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/interior-view-from-the-international-space-station-cupolaThu, 15 Jan 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayTen Years Ago, Huygens Probe Lands on Surface of Titanhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/ten-years-ago-huygens-probe-lands-on-surface-of-titan
Ten years ago, an explorer from Earth parachuted into the haze of an alien moon toward an uncertain fate. After a gentle descent lasting more than two hours, it landed with a thud on a frigid floodplain, surrounded by icy cobblestones. With this feat, the Huygens probe accomplished humanity's first landing on a moon in the outer solar system. Huygens was safely on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn.
These images of Saturn's moon Titan were taken on Jan. 14, 2005 by the Huygens probe at four different altitudes. The images are a flattened (Mercator) projection of the view from the descent imager/spectral radiometer on the probe as it landed on Titan's surface.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed, developed and assembled the Cassini orbiter. NASA supplied two instruments on the Huygens probe, the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer and the Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer.
> More: NASA and ESA Celebrate 10 Years Since Titan Landing
Image Credit: ESA/NASA/JPL/University of Arizonahttp://www.nasa.gov/content/ten-years-ago-huygens-probe-lands-on-surface-of-titanWed, 14 Jan 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayFirst Notable Solar Flare of 2015http://www.nasa.gov/content/first-notable-solar-flare-of-2015
The sun emitted a mid-level solar flare, peaking at 11:24 p.m. EST on Jan. 12, 2015. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the sun constantly, captured an image of the event. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however -- when intense enough -- they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel.
Image Credit: NASA/SDOhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/first-notable-solar-flare-of-2015Tue, 13 Jan 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayJan. 12, 1986 Early Morning Space Shuttle Launchhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/jan-12-1986-early-morning-space-shuttle-launch
On Jan. 12, 1986, the space shuttle Columbia launched at 6:55 a.m. EST from Kennedy Space Center on the STS-61C mission. It was the first spaceflight for now-NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden, who was a Pilot on the STS-61C crew along with Mission Commander Robert L. Gibson, Mission Specialists Franklin R. Chang-Diaz, Steven A. Hawley and George D. Nelson and Payload Specialists Robert J. Cenker of RCA and U.S. Rep. (now Senator) Bill Nelson. During the six-day flight, crew members deployed the SATCOM KU satellite and conducted experiments in astrophysics and materials processing. The mission was accomplished in 96 orbits of Earth, ending with a successful night landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on Jan. 18, 1986.
Image Credit: NASAhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/jan-12-1986-early-morning-space-shuttle-launchMon, 12 Jan 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayLiftoff of SpaceX Resupply Mission to the International Space Stationhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/liftoff-of-spacex-resupply-mission-to-the-international-space-station
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station carrying the Dragon resupply spacecraft to the International Space Station. Liftoff was at 4:47 a.m. EST on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015. The commercial resupply mission will deliver 3,700 pounds of scientific experiments, technology demonstrations and supplies, including critical materials to support 256 science and research investigations on the space station.> More: NASA Cargo Launches to Space Station Aboard SpaceX Resupply MissionImage Credit: NASA/Jim Grossmanhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/liftoff-of-spacex-resupply-mission-to-the-international-space-stationSat, 10 Jan 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayColoring the Sea Around the Pribilof Islandshttp://www.nasa.gov/content/coloring-the-sea-around-the-pribilof-islands
The Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 captured this view of a phytoplankton bloom near Alaska’s Pribilof Islands on Sept. 22, 2014. The Pribilofs are surrounded by nutrient-rich waters in the Bering Sea. The milky green and light blue shading of the water indicates the presence of vast populations of microscopic phytoplankton—mostly coccolithophores, which have calcite scales that appear white in satellite images. Such phytoplankton form the foundation of a tremendously productive habitat for fish and birds.
Blooms in the Bering Sea increase significantly in springtime, after winter ice cover retreats and nutrients and freshened water are abundant near the ocean surface. Phytoplankton populations plummet in summertime as the water warms, surface nutrients are depleted by blooms, and the plant-like organisms are depleted by grazing fish, zooplankton, and other marine life. By autumn, storms can stir nutrients back to the surface and cooler waters make better bloom conditions.
> More information.
Image Credit: NASA/Landsat 8http://www.nasa.gov/content/coloring-the-sea-around-the-pribilof-islandsFri, 09 Jan 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DaySatellite Picture Shows Snow-covered U.S. Deep Freezehttp://www.nasa.gov/content/satellite-picture-shows-snow-covered-us-deep-freeze
NOAA's GOES-East satellite provided a look at the frigid eastern two-thirds of the U.S. on Jan. 7, 2015, that shows a blanket of northern snow, lake-effect snow from the Great Lakes and clouds behind the Arctic cold front.
A visible picture captured at 11 a.m. EST showed the effects of the latest Arctic outbreak. The cold front that brought the Arctic air moved as far south as Florida, and stretched back over the Gulf of Mexico and just west of Texas. The image shows clouds behind the frontal boundary stretching from the Carolinas west over the Heartland. Farther north, a wide band of fallen snow covers the ground from New England west to Montana, with rivers appearing like veins. The GOES-East satellite image also shows wind-whipped lake-effect snows off the Great Lakes, blowing to the southeast. Meanwhile, Florida, the nation's warm spot appeared almost cloud-free.
Image Credit: NASA/NOAA GOES Projecthttp://www.nasa.gov/content/satellite-picture-shows-snow-covered-us-deep-freezeThu, 08 Jan 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayOrion Spacecraft in Post-Mission Processing at Kennedy Space Centerhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/orion-spacecraft-in-post-mission-processing-at-kennedy-space-center
Bearing the marks of a spacecraft that has returned to Earth through a searing plunge into the atmosphere, NASA's Orion spacecraft is perched on a pedestal inside the Launch Abort System Facility at Kennedy Space Center, where it is going through post-mission processing. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, third from right, looks over the Orion spacecraft on the morning of Jan. 6, 2015. At far right is Jules Schneider, Lockheed Martin manager. Standing near Bolden is Paul Cooper, a Lockheed Martin manager. At far left is Kennedy Space Center Associate Director Kelvin Manning. Orion was returned to Kennedy Space Center following a successful Dec. 5, 2014 flight test. Although the spacecraft Bolden looked over did not fly with a crew aboard during the flight test, Orion is designed to carry astronauts into deep space in the future setting NASA and the nation firmly on the journey to Mars.Image Credit: NASA/Cory Hustonhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/orion-spacecraft-in-post-mission-processing-at-kennedy-space-centerWed, 07 Jan 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayHubble’s High-Definition Panoramic View of the Andromeda Galaxyhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/hubble-s-high-definition-panoramic-view-of-the-andromeda-galaxy
The largest NASA Hubble Space Telescope image ever assembled, this sweeping bird’s-eye view of a portion of the Andromeda galaxy (M31) is the sharpest large composite image ever taken of our galactic next-door neighbor. Though the galaxy is over 2 million light-years away, the Hubble Space Telescope is powerful enough to resolve individual stars in a 61,000-light-year-long stretch of the galaxy’s pancake-shaped disk. It's like photographing a beach and resolving individual grains of sand. And there are lots of stars in this sweeping view -- over 100 million, with some of them in thousands of star clusters seen embedded in the disk.
This ambitious photographic cartography of the Andromeda galaxy represents a new benchmark for precision studies of large spiral galaxies that dominate the universe's population of over 100 billion galaxies. Never before have astronomers been able to see individual stars inside an external spiral galaxy over such a large contiguous area. Most of the stars in the universe live inside such majestic star cities, and this is the first data that reveal populations of stars in context to their home galaxy.
The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., in Washington.
> More: Hubble's High-Definition Panoramic View of the Andromeda Galaxy
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, J. Dalcanton, B.F. Williams, and L.C. Johnson (U. of Washington), the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT) team, and R. Gendlerhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/hubble-s-high-definition-panoramic-view-of-the-andromeda-galaxyTue, 06 Jan 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayMeasuring Clouds and Aerosols From the Space Stationhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/measuring-clouds-and-aerosols-from-the-space-station
Clouds can be observed from the International Space Station moving across Earth’s surface, as in this image of New Zealand taken by Expedition 42 Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti. Other tiny solid and liquid particles called aerosols are also being transported around the atmosphere, but these are largely invisible to our eyes. To investigate the layers and composition of clouds and tiny airborne particles like dust, smoke and other atmospheric aerosols, scientists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland have developed an Earth-observing instrument called the Cloud-Aerosol Transport System, or CATS.
The CATS instrument, set to launch to the space station aboard the fifth SpaceX commercial resupply flight, will be the second NASA Earth-observing instrument to be mounted on the exterior of the station. CATS will provide data about aerosols at different levels of the atmosphere. The data are expected to improve scientists' ability to track different cloud and aerosol types throughout the atmosphere. These datasets will be used to improve strategic and hazard-warning capabilities of events in near real-time, such as tracking plumes from dust storms, volcanic eruptions, and wildfires. The information could also feed into climate models to help understand the effects of clouds and aerosols on Earth’s energy balance.
Image Credit: NASA/ESA/Samantha Cristoforettihttp://www.nasa.gov/content/measuring-clouds-and-aerosols-from-the-space-stationMon, 05 Jan 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DaySolar Dynamics Observatory Welcomes the New Yearhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/solar-dynamics-observatory-welcomes-the-new-year
There were no fireworks on the sun to welcome in the New Year and only a few C-class flares during the last day of 2014. Instead, the sun starts 2015 with an enormous coronal hole near the south pole. This image, captured on Jan. 1, 2015 by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) instrument on NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, shows the coronal hole as a dark region in the south.
Coronal holes are regions of the corona where the magnetic field reaches out into space rather than looping back down onto the surface. Particles moving along those magnetic fields can leave the sun rather than being trapped near the surface. Those trapped particles can heat up and glow, giving us the lovely AIA images. In the parts of the corona where the particles leave the sun, the glow is much dimmer and the coronal hole looks dark.
Coronal holes were first seen in images taken by astronauts on board NASA’s Skylab space station in 1973 and 1974. They can be seen for a long time, although the exact shape changes all the time. The polar coronal hole can remain visible for five years or longer. Each time a coronal hole rotates by the Earth we can measure the particles flowing out of the hole as a high-speed stream, another source of space weather.
Charged particles in the Earth’s radiation belts are accelerated when the high-speed stream runs into the Earth’s magnetosphere. The acceleration of particles in the magnetosphere is studied by NASA’s Van Allen Probes mission.
As Solar Cycle 24 fades, the number of flares each day will get smaller, but the coronal holes provide another source of space weather that needs to be understood and predicted.
Image Credit: NASA/SDO
Caption: Dean Pesnellhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/solar-dynamics-observatory-welcomes-the-new-yearFri, 02 Jan 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayCeres, Target of NASA's Dawn Missionhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/ceres-target-of-nasas-dawn-mission
Discovered on Jan. 1, 1801 by Giuseppe Piazzi of Italy, Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt - the strip of solar system real estate between Mars and Jupiter. On March 6, 2015, NASA's Dawn spacecraft will arrive at Ceres, marking the first time that a spacecraft has ever orbited two solar system targets. Dawn previously explored the protoplanet Vesta for 14 months, from 2011 to 2012, capturing detailed images and data about that body. Dawn has entered its approach phase toward Ceres, and the next couple of months promise continually improving views prior to arrival. By the end of January, the spacecraft's images and other data will be the best ever taken of the dwarf planet.
This image of Ceres was taken by the Advanced Camera for Surveys on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope between December 2003 and January 2004. Hubble images of Vesta and Ceres helped astronomers plan for the Dawn spacecraft’s tour. Astronomers enhanced the sharpness in the image to bring out features on Ceres' surface, including brighter and darker regions that could be asteroid impact features. The observations were made in visible and ultraviolet light.
The colors represent the differences between relatively red and blue regions. These differences may simply be due to variation on the surface among different types of material. Ceres' round shape suggests that its interior is layered like those of terrestrial planets such as Earth. Ceres may have a rocky inner core, an icy mantle, and a thin, dusty outer crust inferred from its density and rotation rate of 9 hours. Ceres is approximately 590 miles (950 kilometers) across.
Image Credit: NASA/ESA/J. Parker (SWRI), P. Thomas (Cornell U.), L. McFadden (U-Md., College Park), and M. Mutchler and Z. Levay (STScI)http://www.nasa.gov/content/ceres-target-of-nasas-dawn-missionThu, 01 Jan 2015 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayHubble Sees an Ancient Globular Clusterhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubble-sees-an-ancient-globular-cluster
This image captures the stunning NGC 6535, a globular cluster 22,000 light-years away in the constellation of Serpens (The Serpent) that measures one light-year across.
Globular clusters are tightly bound groups of stars which orbit galaxies. The large mass in the rich stellar centre of the globular cluster pulls the stars inward to form a ball of stars. The word globulus, from which these clusters take their name, is Latin for small sphere.
Globular clusters are generally very ancient objects formed around the same time as their host galaxy. To date, no new star formation has been observed within a globular cluster, which explains the abundance of aging yellow stars in this image, most of them containing very few heavy elements.
NGC 6535 was first discovered in 1852 by English astronomer John Russell Hind. The cluster would have appeared to Hind as a small, faint smudge through his telescope. Now, over 160 years later, instruments like the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) on the NASA/ European Space Agency (ESA) Hubble Space Telescope allow us to marvel at the cluster and its contents in greater detail.
European Space Agency
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgement: Gilles Chapdelainehttp://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubble-sees-an-ancient-globular-clusterWed, 31 Dec 2014 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DaySpace Simulation Chamber Prepared for Testing Webb Telescopehttp://www.nasa.gov/content/space-simulation-chamber-prepared-for-testing-webb-telescope
This photo was captured from outside the enormous mouth of NASA's giant thermal vacuum chamber, called Chamber A, at Johnson Space Center in Houston. Previously used for manned spaceflight missions, this historic chamber is now filled with engineers and technicians preparing a lift system that will be used to hold the James Webb Space Telescope during testing.
The James Webb Space Telescope is the scientific successor to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. It will be the most powerful space telescope ever built. Webb is an international project led by NASA with its partners, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.
> Related: Amazing View of Engineers Preparing NASA's Gigantic Space Simulation Chamber for Massive Test
Image Credit: NASA/Chris Gunnhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/space-simulation-chamber-prepared-for-testing-webb-telescopeTue, 30 Dec 2014 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayView of the Alps From Spacehttp://www.nasa.gov/content/view-of-the-alps-from-space
Expedition 42 Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency (ESA) took this photograph of the Alps from the International Space Station, and posted it to social media on Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2014. She wrote, "I'm biased, but aren't the Alps from space spectacular? What a foggy day on the Po plane, though! #Italy"
Image Credit: NASA/ESA/Samantha Cristoforettihttp://www.nasa.gov/content/view-of-the-alps-from-spaceMon, 29 Dec 2014 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayHubble Sees the Beautiful Side of Galaxy IC 335http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubble-sees-the-beautiful-side-of-ic-335
This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the galaxy IC 335 in front of a backdrop of distant galaxies. IC 335 is part of a galaxy group containing three other galaxies, and located in the Fornax Galaxy Cluster 60 million light-years away.
As seen in this image, the disk of IC 335 appears edge-on from the vantage point of Earth. This makes it harder for astronomers to classify it, as most of the characteristics of a galaxy’s morphology — the arms of a spiral or the bar across the center — are only visible on its face. Still, the 45 000 light-year-long galaxy could be classified as an S0 type.
These lenticular galaxies are an intermediate state in galaxy morphological classification schemes between true spiral and elliptical galaxies. They have a thin stellar disk and a bulge, like spiral galaxies, but in contrast to typical spiral galaxies they have used up most of the interstellar medium. Only a few new stars can be created out of the material that is left and the star formation rate is very low. Hence, the population of stars in S0 galaxies consists mainly of aging stars, very similar to the star population in elliptical galaxies.
As S0 galaxies have only ill-defined spiral arms they are easily mistaken for elliptical galaxies if they are seen inclined face-on or edge-on as IC 335 here. And indeed, despite the morphological differences between S0 and elliptical class galaxies, they share some common characteristics, like typical sizes and spectral features.
Both classes are also deemed "early-type" galaxies, because they are evolving passively. However, while elliptical galaxies may be passively evolving when we observe them, they have usually had violent interactions with other galaxies in their past. In contrast, S0 galaxies are either aging and fading spiral galaxies, which never had any interactions with other galaxies, or they are the aging result of a single merger between two spiral galaxies in the past. The exact nature of these galaxies is still a matter of debate.
European Space Agency
Credit: ESA/Hubble and NASAhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubble-sees-the-beautiful-side-of-ic-335Wed, 24 Dec 2014 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayFrosty Slopes on Marshttp://www.nasa.gov/content/frosty-slopes-on-mars
This image of an area on the surface of Mars, approximately 1.5 by 3 kilometers in size, shows frosted gullies on a south-facing slope within a crater.
At this time of year, only south-facing slopes retain the frost, while the north-facing slopes have melted. Gullies are not the only active geologic process going on here. A small crater is visible at the bottom of the slope.
The image was acquired on Nov. 30, 2014, by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera, one of six instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
> More information and image products
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
Caption: Livio Tornabene, Ryan Hopkins, Kayle Hansen and Eric Pilleshttp://www.nasa.gov/content/frosty-slopes-on-marsTue, 23 Dec 2014 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayHoliday Lights on the Sun: Imagery of a Solar Flarehttp://www.nasa.gov/content/holiday-lights-on-the-sun-imagery-of-a-solar-flare
The sun emitted a significant solar flare, peaking at 7:28 p.m. EST on Dec. 19, 2014. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the sun constantly, captured an image of the event. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however -- when intense enough -- they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel. This flare is classified as an X1.8-class flare. X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength. An X2 is twice as intense as an X1, an X3 is three times as intense, etc.
> Video: Holiday Lights on the Sun
Image Credit: NASA/SDOhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/holiday-lights-on-the-sun-imagery-of-a-solar-flareMon, 22 Dec 2014 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayHubble Sweeps a Messy Star Factoryhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubble-sweeps-a-messy-star-factory
This sprinkle of cosmic glitter is a blue compact dwarf galaxy known as Markarian 209. Galaxies of this type are blue-hued, compact in size, gas-rich, and low in heavy elements. They are often used by astronomers to study star formation, as their conditions are similar to those thought to exist in the early Universe.
Markarian 209 in particular has been studied extensively. It is filled with diffuse gas and peppered with star-forming regions towards its core. This image captures it undergoing a particularly dramatic burst of star formation, visible as the lighter blue cloudy region towards the top right of the galaxy. This clump is filled with very young and hot newborn stars.
This galaxy was initially thought to be a young galaxy undergoing its very first episode of star formation, but later research showed that Markarian 209 is actually very old, with an almost continuous history of forming new stars. It is thought to have never had a dormant period — a period during which no stars were formed — lasting longer than 100 million years.
The dominant population of stars in Markarian 209 is still quite young, in stellar terms, with ages of under 3 million years. For comparison, the sun is some 4.6 billion years old, and is roughly halfway through its expected lifespan.
The observations used to make this image were taken using Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys, and span the ultraviolet, visible, and infrared parts of the spectrum. A scattering of other bright galaxies can be seen across the frame, including the bright golden oval that could, due to a trick of perspective, be mistaken as part of Markarian 209 but is in fact a background galaxy.
European Space Agency
ESA/Hubble & NASA Acknowledgement: Nick Rosehttp://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubble-sweeps-a-messy-star-factoryFri, 19 Dec 2014 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the Day75th Anniversary of NASA Ameshttp://www.nasa.gov/content/75th-anniversary-of-nasa-ames
December 20, 2014 marks NASA Ames Research Center's 75th Anniversary. The center was established in 1939 as the second laboratory of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, and was named for the chair of the NACA, Joseph S. Ames. It was located at Moffett Field in Sunnyvale, California, now at the heart of Silicon Valley. The Laboratory was renamed the NASA Ames Research Center with the formation of NASA in 1958.
This June 2, 1943 photograph shows the construction of the Ames full-scale 40- by 80-foot wind tunnel, with a side view of the entrance cone and a blimp in the background.
Image Credit: NASAhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/75th-anniversary-of-nasa-amesThu, 18 Dec 2014 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayCity Lights Shine Brighter During the Holidayshttp://www.nasa.gov/content/city-lights-shine-brighter-during-the-holidays
City lights shine brighter during the holidays when compared with the rest of the year, as shown using a new analysis of daily data from the NASA-NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite. Dark green pixels are areas where lights are 50 percent brighter, or more, during December.
This new analysis of holiday lights uses an advanced algorithm, developed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, that filters out moonlight, clouds and airborne particles in order to isolate city lights on a daily basis. The data from this algorithm provide high-quality satellite information on light output across the globe, allowing scientists to track when – and how brightly – people illuminate the night. A daily global dynamic dataset of nighttime lights is a new way for researchers to understand the broad societal forces impacting energy decisions and to look at how people use cities, from an energy perspective.
> Full Story: NOAA/NASA Satellite Sees Holiday Lights Brighten Cities
Image Credit: NASA's Earth Observatory/Jesse Allenhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/city-lights-shine-brighter-during-the-holidaysWed, 17 Dec 2014 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DaySunset Over the Gulf of Mexicohttp://www.nasa.gov/content/sunset-over-the-gulf-of-mexico
From the International Space Station, Expedition 42 Flight Engineer Terry W. Virts took this photograph of the Gulf of Mexico and U.S. Gulf Coast at sunset and posted it to social media on Dec. 14, 2014.
The space station and its crew orbit Earth from an altitude of 220 miles, traveling at a speed of approximately 17,500 miles per hour. Because the station completes each trip around the globe in about 92 minutes, the crew experiences 16 sunrises and sunsets each day.
Image Credit: NASA/Terry Virtshttp://www.nasa.gov/content/sunset-over-the-gulf-of-mexicoTue, 16 Dec 2014 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DayOpportunity Pausing at a Bright Outcrop on Endeavour Rim, Sol 3854http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/mer/pia19082
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is continuing its traverse southward on the western rim of Endeavour Crater during the fall of 2014, stopping to investigate targets of scientific interest along way. This view is from Opportunity's front hazard avoidance camera on Nov. 26, 2014, during the 3,854th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars. This camera is mounted low on the rover and has a wide-angle lens.
The scene includes Opportunity's robotic arm, called the "instrument deployment device," at upper left. Portions of the pale bedrock exposed on the ground in front of the rover are within the arm's reach. Researchers used instruments on the arm to examine a target called "Calera" on this patch of bedrock. The wheel tracks in the scene are from the drive -- in reverse -- to this location, a drive of 32.5 feet (9.9 meters) on Sol 3846 (Nov. 18, 2014).
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltechhttp://www.nasa.gov/jpl/mer/pia19082Mon, 15 Dec 2014 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the DaySuper Guppy Spends a Restful Night in the NASA Langley Hangarhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/super-guppy-spends-a-restful-night-in-the-nasa-langley-hangar
NASA's Super Guppy aircraft, designed to transport extremely large cargo, rests after making a special delivery to the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The aircraft measures more than 48 feet to the top of its tail and has a wingspan of more than 156 feet with a 25-foot diameter cargo bay – the aircraft features a hinged nose that opens 110 degrees.
A representative test article of a futuristic hybrid wing body aircraft will be unloaded from the Super Guppy on Friday, Dec. 12 at Langley Research Center. The large test article, representing the uniquely shaped fuselage cross-section, is made out of a low-weight, damage-tolerant, stitched composite structural concept called Pultruded Rod Stitched Efficient Unitized Structure, or PRSEUS. Langley's Combined Loads Test System will subject the revolutionary carbon-fiber architecture test article to conditions that simulate loads typically encountered in flight.
Image Credit: NASAhttp://www.nasa.gov/content/super-guppy-spends-a-restful-night-in-the-nasa-langley-hangarFri, 12 Dec 2014 12:00:00 EDTNASA Image of the Day